To out or not to out, that is the question.
So PBS finally ran their cut and run account of the Jim West fiasco.
A muddy media affair that Andrew Sullivan wrongly describes as, "A case study in press cruelty and over-reach." While the recent surveillance of the deputy mayor's parking habits in a local cruise park might qualify for Sullivan's press review, that is not the case in the Mayor West Scandal.
And what's with Sullivan these days? He claims that he doesn't support outing but then posts news links, Youtubes, and commentary about the very same breaking stories. Have cake. Will Eat it Too. It seems Sullivan isn't afraid to jump on board the publicity wagon once the story has legs.
The original Frontline piece pitched here among the gay community was that this was to be a "serious examination of the issues". The producers claimed their goal was not just a look at West but a profile on how Spokane's gay community tried to overcome the Go West Young Man scandal.
Instead, that in depth footage, their look at our local gay community's attempts to move beyond the scandal was cut. Kept it all sexy, and edgy.
The show PBS did run? A very Geraldo, Ted Haggard-like expose. Lots of gray shots of Spokane and run down business districts and oh yeah, the railroad trains running through town shot. Uh, ok, help me out here... what do trains plains and automobiles have to do with a chickenhawk politician?
Sullivan wouldn't know anything about the culture of fear brought about by West or the courage it took to fight his politics all those years. Sullivan being all safe and secure in P-Town. I read him but at times, I get tired of his arrogance.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hiddenlife/view/
Yeah the outing was brutal. Spokane's major daily paper went way out on a limb and West had to dance around many questions that he never thought anyone would dare ask, and that by the way, he never answered.
But as much as the nation became interested in the West Story, it was those of us who live in Eastern Washington who truly got slimed by West's agenda, his dishonesty, and his corrupt affiliations with the religious right values voters.
I felt then, and I still feel now, that the Spokesman Review had the moral duty and the high calling to ask these questions-especially considering the past, and the now present, behavior of the Spokane's law enforcement community (for those of you outside the area we've had officers exposing themselves at espresso stands, mentally ill men getting tasered to death in convenience stores, firemen taking naked pictures of sixteen year old girls they'd just met online (in a local firestation no less) and then the cops erasing those digital pics before they could be used as evidence, and the topper, a cop who invited a convicted child molester to move into his family's home, stored the predator's guns (which were against the law for him to own) and leaving the creep unattended with his six year old daughter).
Add the behavior of the local Spokane Boy Scout Leadership, The Catholic Church and the Republican Party and yes, the mayor's hanging out on gay.com getting off with a 17 year-old-kid and then trying to meet up with the kid on his 18th birthday at a local golf course-is, sadly enough, newsworthy.
The question shouldn't be how dare the Spokesman cover the story with every resource they had, but what in the hell took you so long?
West had an opportunity to come clean before the voters. He never really explained his behavior. Only when he was under fire, did he claim the very right to privacy that he'd formerly denied the gay constituents of eastern Washington.
He was recalled by the voters in December of 2005 and passed away in July. But as you can see, the sad story lives on...
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